January 24
Events * 41 - Gaius Caesar (Caligula), known for his eccentricity and cruel despotism, is assassinated by his disgruntled Praetorian Guards. Claudius succeeds his nephew. *1438 - The Council of Basel suspends Pope Eugene IV as Prelate of Ethiopia, arrives at Massawa from Goa. *1679 - King Charles II of England disbands Parliament. *1742 - Charles VII Albert becomes Holy Roman Emperor. *1776 - Henry Knox arrives at Cambridge with the artillery that he has transported from Fort Ticonderoga. *1826 - Mississippi College is founded in Clinton, becoming the first college in the state of Mississippi. *1848 - California Gold Rush: James W. Marshall finds gold at Sutter's Mill near Sacramento. *1857 - The University of Calcutta is formally founded as the first full-fledged university in south Asia. *1859 - Political union of Moldavia and Wallachia; Alexandru Ioan Cuza is elected as ruler. *1878 - The revolutionary Vera Zasulich shoots at Fyodor Trepov, the Governor of Saint Petersburg. *1887 - Battle of Dogali: Abyssinian troops defeat Italians. *1907 - Robert Baden-Powell begins the Boy Scout movement. *1916 - In Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad, the Supreme Court of the United States declares the federal income tax constitutional. *1918 - The Gregorian calendar introduced in Russia by decree of the Council of People's Commissars effective from February 14(NS) *1924 - Petrograd, formerly St. Petersburg, Russia, is renamed Leningrad. *1927 - Director Alfred Hitchcock releases his first film, The Pleasure Garden, in England. *1935 - The first cans of beer are sold in the US (Krueger's Finest Beer and Krueger's Cream Ale). *1936 - Albert Sarraut becomes Prime Minister of France *1943 - World War II: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill conclude a conference in Casablanca. *1952 - Vincent Massey is sworn in as the first Canadian-born Governor-General of Canada. *1966 - An Air India Boeing 707 jet crashes on Mont Blanc, on the border between France and Italy, killing 117. *1972 - Japanese Sgt. Shoichi Yokoi is found hiding in a Guam jungle, where he had been since the end of World War II. *1977 - Massacre of Atocha in Madrid, during the Spanish transition to democracy. *1978 - Soviet satellite Cosmos 954 burns up in Earth's atmosphere, scattering debris over Canada's Northwest Territories. *1978 - Rose Dugdale and Eddie Gallagher become the first convicted prisoners to marry in prison in the history of the Republic of Ireland. *1984 - The first Apple Macintosh goes on sale. *1986 - Voyager 2 passes within 81,500 km (50,680 miles) of Uranus. * 1986 - Wapping dispute. Newspaper workers in London launch ultimately unsuccessful strike against Rupert Murdoch's News International. *1993 - Turkish journalist and writer Uğur Mumcu assassinated by a car bomb in Ankara *1996 - Polish Premier Jozef Oleksy resigns amid charges he spied for Moscow. *2003 - The United States Department of Homeland Security officially begins operation. Births * 76 - Hadrian, Roman Emperor (d. 138) *1287 - Richard Aungerville, English bishop (d. 1345) *1444 - Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan (d. 1476) *1540 - Edmund Campion, English Jesuit (d. 1581) *1638 - Charles Sackville, English poet (d. 1706) *1670 - William Congreve, English playwright (d. 1729) *1674 - Thomas Tanner, English bishop (d. 1735) *1679 - Christian Wolff, German philosopher (d. 1754) *1705 - Farinelli, Italian castrato (d. 1782) *1712 - King Frederick II of Prussia (d. 1786) *1724 - Frances Brooke, English writer (d. 1789) *1732 - Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, French playwright (d. 1799) *1742 - Anne (d. 1808) *1752 - Muzio Clementi, Italian composer (d. 1832) *1754 - Andrew Ellicott, American surveyor (d. 1820) *1763 - Louis Alexandre Andrault de Langeron, Russian general (d. 1831) *1776 - E.T.A. Hoffmann, German writer (d. 1822) *1779 - Elizabeth Alexeievna, Russian tsarina (d. 1826) *1848 - Vasily Surikov, Russian painter (d. 1916) *1862 - Edith Wharton, American writer (d. 1937) *1864 - Marguerite Durand, French feminist leader (d. 1936) *1872 - Konstantin Bogaevsky, Russian painter (d. 1943) *1873 - Leon Czolgosz, American anarchist, assassin of U.S. President William McKinley (d. 1901) *1888 - Vicki Baum, Austrian writer (d. 1960) * 1888 - Ernst Heinkel, German aircraft designer (d. 1958) *1891 - Walter Model, German field marshal (d. 1945) *1895 - Eugen Roth, German writer (d. 1976) *1898 - Cliff Heathcote, American baseball player (d. 1939) *1901 - Harry Calder, South African cricketer (d. 1995) *1902 - E. A. Speiser, American Bible scholar (d. 1965) *1905 - J. Howard Marshall, American billionaire (d. 1995) *1907 - Maurice Couve de Murville, French politician (d. 1999) *1909 - Martin Lings, English Islamic scholar (d. 2005) * 1909 - Ann Todd, English actress (d. 1993) *1913 - Norman Dello Joio, American composer *1915 - Robert Motherwell, American painter (d. 1991) *1916 - Jack Brickhouse, American sports broadcaster (d. 1998) *1917 - Ernest Borgnine, American actor *1918 - Oral Roberts, American evangelist *1919 - Coleman Francis, American film director *1922 - Charles Socarides, American psychiatrist (d. 2005) *1925 - Maria Tallchief, American ballerina *1927 - Sir Patrick Macnaghten, British aristocrat (d. 2007) *1928 - Desmond Morris, British anthropologist * 1928 - Michel Serrault, French actor *1934 - Stanisław Grochowiak, Polish poet (d. 1976) *1936 - Doug Kershaw, American musician *1939 - Ray Stevens, American musician *1941 - Neil Diamond, American singer * 1941 - Aaron Neville, American singer *1943 - Subhash Ghai, Indian film director * 1943 - Sharon Tate, American actress and Manson murder victim (d. 1969) *1944 - Klaus Nomi, German singer (d. 1983) *1945 - John Garamendi, American politician *1946 - Michael Ontkean, Canadian actor *1947 - Warren Zevon, American musician (d. 2003) *1949 - John Belushi, American actor (d. 1982) *1950 - Gerald Brisco, American professional wrestler * 1950 - Benjamin Urrutia, Ecuadorian writer * 1950 - Daniel Auteuil, French actor *1951 - Yakov Smirnoff, Ukrainian-born American comedian *1954 - Jo Gartner, Austrian racing driver (d. 1986) *1956 - Hanne Krogh, Norwegian singer (Bobbysocks) *1957 - Adrian Edmondson, British comedian *1958 - Neil Allen, American baseball player * 1958 - Jools Holland, British musician *1959 - Vic Reeves, English comedian *1961 - Nastassja Kinski, German-born actress * 1961 - Vince Russo, American writer *1963 - Martyn Grimley, English field hockey player * 1963 - Arnold Vanderlyde, Dutch boxer *1965 - Carlos Saldanha, brazilian director *1965 - Mike Awesome, American professional wrestler (d. 2007) *1966 - Jimeoin, Northern Irish comedian *1967 - Mark Kozelek, American singer/songwriter (Red House Painters, Sun Kil Moon) * 1967 - Phil LaMarr, American voice actor * 1967 - John Myung, American musician (Dream Theater) *1968 - Michael Kiske, German musician * 1968 - Mary Lou Retton, American gymnast *1969 - Hilmir Snær Guðnason, Icelandic actor *1970 - Matthew Lillard, American actor *1971 - Cory Bailey, American baseball player *1972 - Naoshi Mizuta, Japanese composer *1974 - Shii Ann Huang, American game show contestant *1974 - Ed Helms, American actor *1975 - Rónald Gómez, Costa Rican footballer *1976 - Shae-Lynn Bourne, Canadian ice dancer with Victor Kraatz *1979 - Tatyana Ali, American actress *1980 - Nicole Marie Lenz, American actress *1981 - Travis Hanson, American baseball player *1983 - Shaun Maloney, Scottish footballer * 1983 - Scott Speed, American race car driver *1984 - Scott Kazmir, American baseball player * 1984 - Witold Kiełtyka, Polish drummer (Decapitated) (d. 2007) *1986 - Mischa Barton, English-born American actress * 1986 - Raviv Ullman, Israeli-born American actor *1989 - Calvin Goldspink, English singer Deaths * 41 - Caligula, Emperor of Rome (b. 12) * 772 - Pope Stephen III (b. 720) *1002 - Otto III (b. 980) *1125 - David IV of Georgia (b. 1073) *1366 - Alfonso IV of Aragon (b. 1299) *1376 - Richard FitzAlan, English military leader *1473 - Conrad Paumann, German composer *1595 - Ferdinand II of Austria (b. 1529) *1626 - Samuel Argall, English adventurer and naval officer (b. 1580) *1639 - Georg Jenatsch, Swiss politician (b. 1596) *1666 - Johann Andreas Herbst, German composer (b. 1588) *1709 - George Rooke, English admiral (b. 1650) *1769 - François de Chevert, French general (b. 1695) *1856 - Rabbi Yechezkel of Kuzmir, Polish Hasidic leader (b. 1775) *1877 - Johann Christian Poggendorff, German physicist (b. 1796) *1882 - Levi Boone, Mayor of Chicago (b. 1808) *1883 - Friedrich von Flotow, German composer (b. 1812) *1895 - Lord Randolph Churchill, British politician (b. 1849) *1911 - David Graham Phillips, American journalist and novelist (b. 1867) *1920 - Amedeo Modigliani, Italian painter and sculptor (b. 1884) *1924 - Marie-Adélaïde (b. 1894) *1932 - Alfred Yarrow, English shipbuilder (b. 1842) *1939 - Maximilian Bircher-Benner, Swiss physician and nutritionist (b. 1867) *1943 - John Burns, English politician (b. 1858) *1948 - Maria Mandel, Camp Leader at Auschwitz (b. 1912) * 1948 - Arthur Liebehenschel, Commandant at Auschwitz concentration camp (b. 1901) *1955 - Ira Hayes, American World War II hero (b. 1923) *1960 - Edwin Fischer, Swiss pianist and conductor (b. 1886) *1961 - Alfred Carlton Gilbert, American swimmer and inventor (b. 1884) *1962 - Stanley Lord, captain of the SS Californian the night of the Titanic disaster (b. 1877) * 1962 - André Lhote, french painter. *1965 - Winston Churchill, soldier, politician, historian, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Nobel laureate (b. 1874) *1966 - Homi J. Bhabha, Indian physicist (b. 1909) *1970 - Caresse Crosby, American poet (b. 1891) *1971 - Bill W., American co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous (b. 1895) *1973 - J. Carrol Naish, American actor (b. 1897) *1975 - Larry Fine, American actor and comedian (b. 1902) *1978 - Herta Oberheuser, German doctor (b. 1911) *1982 - Alfredo Ovando Candía, Bolivian president and dictator (b. 1918) *1983 - George Cukor, American film director (b. 1899) *1986 - L. Ron Hubbard, American writer and founder of Scientology (b. 1911) * 1986 - Flo Hyman, American volleyball player (b. 1954) * 1986 - Gordon MacRae, American actor and singer (b. 1921) *1988 - Werner Fenchel, German mathematician (b. 1905) *1989 - Ted Bundy, American serial killer (b. 1946) * 1989 - George Knudson, Canadian golfer (b. 1937) *1990 - Madge Bellamy, American actress (b. 1899) *1991 - John M. Kelly, Irish politician and academic (b. 1931) *1992 - Ricky Ray Rector, American murderer (b. 1950) *1993 - Thurgood Marshall, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (b. 1908) *1998 - Walter D. Edmonds, American author (b. 1903) *2000 - Bobby Duncum, American professional wrestler (b. 1965) *2001 - Les Brown, American band leader (b. 1912) *2002 - Peter Gzowski, Canadian broadcaster, writer and reporter (b. 1934) * 2002 - Elie Hobeika, Lebanese Forces militia commander (b. 1956) *2003 - Gianni Agnelli, Italian auto executive (b. 1921) *2004 - Leônidas da Silva, Brazilian footballer (b. 1913) *2005 - June Bronhill, Australian singer (b. 1929) * 2005 - Vladimir Savchenko, Ukrainian writer (b. 1933) * 2005 - Chalkie White, English rugby union coach (b. 1929) *2006 - Fayard Nicholas, American tap dancer, one-half of The Nicholas Brothers (b. 1914) * 2006 - Schafik Handal, Salvadorean politician * 2006 - Chris Penn, American actor (b. 1965) *2007 - Krystyna Feldman, Polish actress (b. 1920) * 2007 - Guadalupe Larriva, Ecuadorian politician (b. 1956) Holidays and observances * Roman Empire - first day of the Sementivae in honor of Ceres and Terra * Roman Catholic Church - Feasts of St. Francis de Sales and Our Lady of Peace * January 24 * Wales - Saint Cadoc External links * BBC: On This Day * * On this day in Canada ---- Category:January